Threads is adding a new feature called live chats that resembles Instagram’s Broadcast Channels, enabling users to follow event and topic-related discussions through a more structured format than the main feed provides.
The announcement came from Threads Chief Connor Hayes at Coachella last week, revealing the platform’s efforts to improve real-time conversation capabilities. The feature aims to address limitations users face when trying to follow live events through traditional feed posting.
“We’re pre-announcing a new feature today, which is pretty cool, called live chats,” Hayes stated. “Those that are out here on Threads know that we want to be this real-time conversation for what’s going on in the world, but sometimes, posting to feed fifty times over the course of an hour just doesn’t do what it needs to do for live conversation.”
The live chats feature will allow users to start a chat, add collaborators who can send messages into it, and enable others to subscribe and follow along without being able to send messages themselves. Hayes described it as “the group chat from your messaging app that your fans can follow along with.”
The functionality resembles Broadcast Channels, which Instagram added in 2023 as a one-to-many group messaging option. Broadcast Channels enable users to follow creators or brand profiles in read-only mode, providing another way to stay updated on key discussions and announcements without cluttering the main feed.
For example, Threads users could follow creators covering Coachella and receive a dedicated discussion stream for that event, rather than reading scattered updates within the main feed or refreshing individual profiles for new posts. This approach creates a more focused viewing experience for specific topics or events.
The feature could add value to the Threads experience, though questions remain about whether the main feed should already provide this functionality. Twitter, which served as the template for Threads, facilitated similar interaction through hashtags, allowing users to tap on tags to access full, real-time conversations on specific topics.
However, hashtags eventually became cluttered with spam and irrelevant content, with popular tags becoming targets for scammers looking to amplify their posts’ reach. The most popular hashtags suffered particularly from this problem, reducing their utility for genuine conversation.
Threads’ live chats may offer a more workable alternative by limiting contributors to counter spam and ensure a more engaging stream of relevant updates. The restrictive approach makes sense, especially for major events where quality control is essential.
The success of live chats will depend heavily on the creators who run each chat and their ability to maintain engagement. By eliminating outside contributions, Threads puts all responsibility on hosts to keep conversations flowing and ensure relevant information is shared in the stream.
This approach might not be as engaging as Twitter chats once were, where open participation created dynamic exchanges. However, the more restrictive model addresses the spam problems that plagued hashtag-based systems, potentially creating a better balance between engagement and quality control.
Hayes did not provide a specific launch date for the feature but said it will start appearing in the app “over the next few weeks.” The gradual rollout suggests Threads plans to test and refine the feature based on initial user feedback before wider deployment.
